We were lucky to catch up with Evo Love recently and have shared our conversation below.
Evo, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I believe I found my purpose when I moved from Port Orange, Florida to Miami Beach, Florida when I was the young age of 16 years old. A friend of mine had went to Miami Beach and loved it and suggested we go and check it out one weekend. Miami Beach during the late 80’s and early 90’s was comparable to the east village in NYC in the 70’s. It was thriving with Artist’s, Musician’s, Models, Creatives in every form and fashion. It was intoxicating. Coming from a city that was very conservative and repressive not to mention, judgmental and discriminative South Beach was a breath of fresh air. Also, being latin where I grew up was being in a small minority where as, South Beach was filled with a large population of hispanics and latinos from all across the board. I immediately felt like it was home. My girlfriend and I visited one weekend and I was hooked and the decision was made to go back home, quit our jobs, sell all of our stuff, pack our bags, and move there. And that’s just what we did. My friend’s mother rented us a car, we packed it to the fullest and left with $120 bucks to our names. Looking back, we were crazy to think that kind of money would last between the two of us and it was a crazy idea, but sometimes you have to take risks. Just goes to show you how desperate we were to leave a stifled environment.
When we arrived to South Beach, we knew nobody and had no job leads. There were two guys in a car following us around in a car and we decided to go into a grocery store parking lot and my friend ran into the store and this manager walked out with her and started asking us questions… Where we were from? What do we do? How old were we? Next thing you know he gave us his number and told us he could get us jobs in the bar business. So we met up with hime the next day. He knew every one in town. Gave us some leads and we applied at every bar he suggested. During that time a lot of people wouldn’t hire us because they considered us to young. There was a long period of no work. Right before we left, my mother had given me a glue gun. My mother was a craft artist, I thought to myself, What the hell am I going to do with this? Well, I was a collector and one day I obtained an old oak school chair and started gluing all kinds of memorabilia to that chair. People would come to visit and they loved it. They started saying “You’re an artist” This is art.” they also started suggesting I start looking up Pop Art, Dadaism, Folk Art, etc. The rest is history. That was the moment I found my purpose.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
For the first part of my art career, people always considered me an outsider artist/ Folk Artist only because I was self taught and had no formal education in art. My creations were inspired by the antique collectibles I would find at thrift shops and I would then glue my treasures to mainly furniture. They were similar to alters and shrines but functional. I decorated old oak school chairs, table lamps, wooden Coca Cola crates that you could hang on walls. Because I wasn’t a trained artist and didn’t study any artist, I just created what I felt looked good intuitively. I have to be honest, I didn’t consider myself an artist early on but when people saw my work they kept telling me I was one. They also kept asking me “How Much.” I didn’t even know how much to charge or what I was worth. All I knew was I loved what I was doing and kept doing it. I then became a word of mouth artist. Friends would bring friends over to buy my work and at that time, I was practically giving my work away. The first 30 + years of what became a career was totally dedicated to three dimensional assemblage art. And now I have dedicated the last couple of years to 2 dimensional collage art. For six years I took 6 years off from the art world. I was pissed off about the politics of the art world and the invisibility of women in the art world and especially women of color. In that period of time I tried to quit art but little did I know when you’re a true blue creative, you van quit art all you want but art won’t quit you. You’re desire and passion to create doesn’t care about how pissed you are at the business of art. It doesn’t give a shit about who see’s it or buys it. Your artistic expression will find a will and a way to come out regardless. So in that being said, 2 years ago I was in Atlanta, Georgia looking through old Life Magazines, It had been around the time of my stepfathers anniversary of his death which was about 6 years prior and I thought to myself, I would really love to do a piece to honor my dad who was in the car business. I kept seeing all of these Car Ads, and I said to myself, I should do a collage. I sat going through the mag, cutting out images of all the things my dad loved. Cars, Liquor, Cigarettes, etc and started making this collage and it came out killer. It was a great piece. My husband came home from work and saw it and said “We are keeping this.” “You need to keep doing this.” It’s been 2 years since I made that piece and now Im up to over 150 pieces. I also did 2 Solo shows. One at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center in Miami and another at Ca’d’Oro Art Gallery in Chelsea, New York. This past Art Basel I also had a few pieces in a sister fair at PRIZM Art Fair in Miami. This work is really special to me because every piece is really dedicated to my step father Joe Caban. The common thread in all the work is Cars, Liquor, Cigarettes, all of my dad’s favorite things. This series of work is called Body Shop. If my father was alive he would have loved this work. He would have also loved that the background of all the pieces are from Motors & Chilltons Automotive Guide & Parts books. I consider all my pieces from the Body Shop Series Love Letters and a wink and a nod to everyone who works in body shops, who are in the automotive business, and all the people who love and cherish classic car culture.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I really believe perseverance is a huge component of my success. Not comparing myself to anyone. Just keeping my head down and being disciplined and doing the work. Not judging the work either. Just keep pushing through. As an artist, we all have insecurities and that voice in our head that can become Debbie Downer but I would fight through that and past that. Another thing I think is extremely important is not taking no for an answer and not allowing anyone to tell you what you can’t do. When I first started out on my journey as an artist, I would always go to galleries and show them my work and they would reject it. It was crushing at times. But I knew, certain people really loved my work when I was doing the 3 dimensional assemblage and they were buying it. So I knew I had an audience, I knew I just had to start doing my own art shows and finding places to do them and then promoting those shows. So that’s exactly what I did. I became really determined, inventive, and thought outside the box. Instead of doing my shows in a gallery, I’d ask someone who owned a production company in Tv and Film, “Can I do a show here?” they’d say yes and boom, I have a show. Same with real estate people I met. They would have a space that wasn’t being rented, they’d see my work, they would suggest, “Hey Evo, I have this space that’s empty and if you want you can do a show there.” ah, yes please. As my career grew, And the more artist I met and where friends with, I realized a lot of us weren’t being recognized in the art markets. Artist that I knew did Graffiti art, Street Art, Glitter Art, Assemblage etc. One Year my husband and I decided to rent a U Haul truck, outfit with all the artist we knew work inside and we started driving it and parking it in front of the galleries that wouldn’t give us the time of day. We started selling work right out of the truck, people loved how Punk Rock and Gorilla Street are Truck show was and we ended up doing truck and street shows every year for 6 years during Art Basel. They were extremely successful. So much so that one year a high end collector saw my work and bought nearly my whole collection which gave me the start up money to own my own art gallery called STASH. My husband and I owned that gallery for 7 years doing shows with artist who were never taken seriously and or even considered in major galleries. Now Street & Graffiti Art are well recognized and respected not to mention sought after and a few of the artist we have represented went on to work with major national brands. What I have learned in my life and now at 50 years old, You have to take risks, You can’t take No for an answer, You have to make your way. You have to think outside the box. You have to be Punk Rock. And when I say this I don’t mean grab a leather jacket and put spikes in it and go to the hair salon and get a pink mohawk, what I do mean is there is a lot to learn from PUNK ROCK. They don’t care about institutions, the rules, how it’s traditional done. Punk Rockers make their own rules, they make their own way. They don’t follow the herd. They are inventive and resourceful. Same with Drag queens. I chuckle to myself when I say this but it’s true. I mean, look at Ru Paul, Hello, he’s the most successful drag queen to date and did you know he was originally doing Punk Rock shows? Look it up, He was.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
In the beginning of my journey as an artist a boyfriend at the time gave me a copy of The Artist Way: A spiritual path to higher creativity by Julia Cameron. This book was my bible and still is. She has a part two too and also a workbook. Buy all of them. It doesn’t matter either what kind of artist you are. If you are an aspiring writer, visual artist, actor, etc this book is going to help you and open you up in ways you can’t imagine. It is a great book for any creative no matter what medium. Another book I highly suggest is How To Survive and Prosper As An Artist by Carol Micheals. There are some jewels in this book. Especially when it comes to knowing your value as an artist. For the longest time when I sold my work I was so excited that someone liked it! That someone wanted to buy it! I was selling myself short. I never considered the materials it was taking me to make the work nor the time it was taking me to make the work. Remember, I wasn’t a trained artist, I didn’t have the expertise of a Harvard Grad who studied art and graduated with a masters and knew the value of a Van Gogh. Nor did I professors giving me advice. So for anyone starting out, I suggest reading this book too, ART/WORK Everything You Need To Know (and Do) As You Pursue Your Art Career by Heather Darcy Bhandari & Jonathan Melber. Another good one is The Value of Art by Michael Findlay. And Lastly I would suggest How To Be An Artist by Jerry Saltz. All good books. Some I didn’t read till way later in my career but none the less they had great advice and gave me some direction.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://evolovemiami.bigcartel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolovemiami/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evo-love-5672b58/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/hMkwFDf34RY?si=Sf56lAby35VZ6ruf
